Statistically, book sales in book stores are down. As more and more people shop on the Internet, book store sales will continue to drop. There will always be people, though, who love visiting their favorite book store and browsing the shelves for a new find. These are the people you want to sell your book to!
|
|
Unless your book is being sold by a major publisher, there is a slim chance you will get your book onto the shelves of a major chain. Some major chains also ask for your marketing plan to sell your book. A marketing plan will detail how you will promote your book, stated as actions, financial commitment, and time commitment. For big chains like Borders to sell your book, you need a sales history of previous books.
Your best option as a new writer is to ask local, independent book sellers to sell your book. List down independent bookstores around your area, and pop them a visit instead of just calling. Even then, don't have high expectation that bookstores will automatically want to promote your book purely because it has been published. The initial contact is important, dress nice to impress, and always be humble as a self promoter.
Terence Tam is the founder of BookPal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions
Leave a comment